Mercury Poisoning
by Thetruehero
Summary: This takes places a year after the movie, Hiro is older in this fic around seventeen but still a total shorty! Hiro and his friends enjoy each others company but when they all get a new colleague that hates everything they do, they'll have to figure out how to work around him and if Hiro's feelings are just feelings...or maybe they are something much deeper.
1. Chapter 1

_One Year Ago_

**Hiro's POV**

"I don't understand why you are making me watch the other contestants. It's just making me more nervous!" Hiro said to his brother who only chuckled.

"Trust me Hiro, you're microbots are going to win but it's always good to scope out the competition!" Tadashi said just as the announcer walked out and everyone clapped. Hiro had never felt more nervous about anything than this competition, if he didn't win then he didn't get to go to university with his friends.

"And for our next contestant we have Mercury Tetch!" the announcer said into the microphone. A young teenager maybe a year older than Hiro walked out with a wave, he had crazy brown hair, a bright smile, and piercing blue eyes.

"Okay for the millionth time my first name isn't...you know what yeah okay my name is Mercury." he grumbled into the microphone. Mercury reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a bluetooth earpiece "My invention is one I've dreamed of for a long time. On this earpiece is hundreds of hours of guitar lessons, now I have never even touched a guitar but watch this!" he said loudly and placed the device in his ear.

Mercury shuddered for a second before running over and grabbing a guitar. He played every song perfectly as if he had been practicing since the day he was born. When he was done he put the guitar down and took out the earpiece "Maybe you want to show off to your friends in basketball?" he asked before taking out a second earpiece and replacing the first. He shuddered again before someone from the audience threw him a basketball, he grabbed it, dribbled it expertly for a few seconds before throwing it across the room where it landed in a hoop.

Everyone clapped in excitement as he pulled out a third earpiece and put it in his ear, he began to sing an opera, hitting notes no one ever thought possible. After five minutes of straight singing he took the earpiece out and bowed "With this you can become a superstar in a matter of seconds!" he shouted and everyone clapped excitedly as he exited the stage.

Tadashi was clapping too and when Mercury passed by them he gave Hiro a calculating look. Hiro shifted nervously, his blue eyes were starting to scare him, Mercury pulled something out of his pocket, it looked like a silver coin and he brought it to his mouth. He held the coin in his mouth like a toothpick "So this is Hiro? Wow, thought he was going to be more impressive Tad. Way to oversell." he said before pushing through the crowd and out of sight.

"What was that?!" Hiro asked nervously, he couldn't get that intense stare and the way that coin sounded scraping against his teeth out of his head.

Tadashi laughed "Mercury is an odd duck but he's a good guy at heart. Trust me when he's mean to you it generally means he's taken a liking to you." he explained. They walked up to the stage and Hiro was feeling anxious again.

Tadashi gave Hiro a quick hug before Hiro went and gave his presentation. He didn't remember much he was so nervous and there was so much adrenaline running through him that it was all a blur. One thing he did remember though when he won the contest...

Was how angry Mercury Tetch looked.

* * *

_Present Day_

"Hey Hiro! How you been?" Wasabi asked as he worked on his plasma gauntlets. Hiro gave him a smile as he worked on his helmet, it was giving off this strange static noise and he was trying to figure out what was wrong.

Suddenly the door opened and Gogo ran in looking worried "Big trouble! Mercury and the rest of the administration are on their way here!" he shouted and everyone quickly scrambled to put all of their super hero team gear away.

Hiro had just put his helmet away when the door opened and Mercury walked in, like always whenever he tried to get them in trouble he immediately zeroed in on Hiro. No matter where Hiro was in the school whenever he turned around Mercury was always glaring at him from a distance and he had been too scared to ask what he had done wrong.

Mercury had his coin in hand and was flipping it around as Granville walked up "Mr. Tetch has brought it to our attention that you all are misusing university tools to create weapons?" she asked. Mercury grinned as he leaned against the wall looking smug.

Everyone stuttered as they tried to think of what to say, did Mercury know about their secret identities? He was one of the smartest people in the university but he rarely interacted with them. Granville looked over at Mercury before back at the group.

"Which is why we have decided to have Mr. Tetch supervise you all from now one." she announced.

"WHAT!?" everyone, including Mercury, shouted.

"Professor you can't be serious! If I'm stuck with them I'll go insane!" Mercury shouted but Granville refused to argue. Everyone looked at each other worriedly because if Mercury was in the same room as them then they couldn't discuss their plans in saving the city when it was in peril! Sure they all hung out after school but their lab and equipment was here!

Mercury was practically shouting at Granville "Is this a punishment for me too?!" he snarled.

Granville gave a thin smile "Well considering how you are constantly complaining about Mr. Hamada and his antics, we think that the best person to supervise them would be you. Good day Mr. Tetch." and with that all of the teachers left a stunned Mercury in the room.

Hiro walked over and Mercury was gripping his coin so tightly his knuckles were turning white. Hiro gave a side smile "Hey Tetch...so, I guess we're colleagues now?" he asked with a nervous laugh.

Mercury glared at Hiro "I hate you." he deadpanned before walking out of the room.

Hiro sighed, why did Mercury hate him so much? He never really did anything to him and Tadashi always said he was a nice guy but he's been nothing but rude and obnoxious to Hiro since he started school. He went back to his desk and slumped over it "Why does he hate me?" he asked.

"No idea he's always been kind of a jerk but then you came into the picture and he just went off the charts jerkmode." Wasabi explained as he sat next to him.

Fred and Honey walked next to them as Hiro looked at his helmet in front of him "Why is he called Mercury?" he asked remembering the day he met him. He complained about Mercury not being his name but resigned to it.

"Fred called him that, it was his first semester here. He and Tadashi were lab partners and the second day of class he flooded most of the building with liquid mercury. Took weeks for it all to be removed from the school, since then everyone in the school has called him Mercury Tetch." Honey explained and Fred looked enormously proud of that.

Hiro looked up in shock "How on earth did he..." he started.

"We asked...he refuses to tell us how he got his hands on that much mercury." Gogo explained as if reading Hiros mind. He sighed, that story just made the guy even more mysterious and strange. The door opened and Mercury walked in carrying a box filled with a bunch of gadgets and tools.

"I'm taking this corner." he said loudly and set his stuff down and started writing some notes in a book. Hiro got up and walked over to the taller teenager, he glanced over and scowled at Hiro. Hiro glanced at his notebook and saw the entire page was covered in mathematical equations and notes on harnessing different elements.

"What are you working on?" Hiro asked and Mercury continued writing, he was twirling his coin in his hand. Hiro had never actually gotten a good looks at it but now he could clearly see the coin. It was a bright silver, it was liquid but laced with a casing so it didn't spill. The coin was made of mercury!

Mercury stopped writing and sighed, he put his pencil down and glared at Hiro "Can you get away from me?!" he whispered harshly and Hiro nodded and walked away from him. Mercury stared at him for a few seconds and looked like he wanted to say something else but rolled his eyes and went back to his notes.

Hiro sat down and stared at the older teen, he was hunched over and he was staring intently at his notebook as he wrote stuff down. It was like he wanted to get every detail of each letter and number perfectly. Hiro had seen that kind of posture and stare before, he used to do it when he was younger.

Mercury felt like an outcast, he felt like no one wanted to interact with him, he felt like no one cared about him. If he could have his notes be perfect then he could feel proud of something, even if no one else was proud of him. It was right there Hiro decided that no matter the cost...

He was going to make Mercury Tetch his friend!

**REVIEW!**

**So this is my first BH6 story...hope it's good!**


	2. Chapter 2

It took a couple of days but Hiro finally figured it out, Mercury was a genius well beyond his years just like Hiro. So, logically speaking, the best way to communicate with Mercury would be through knowledge!

Hiro spun around in his chair trying not to fall asleep, it was maybe six in the morning and he was hoping to talk to Mercury alone. He heard that he usually opened the lab because he was always an early riser. His suspicions were proven correct when he heard the door beep and Mercury walked in with a smile on his face and a large mug of coffee.

The second he realized that Hiro was also in the room he visibly deflated "No! Why?! Why are you here?!" he asked in annoyance. Mercury sat down and slammed his head into the desk, Hiro cleared his throat not the greeting he was expecting.

"I was hoping to talk to you. I need your help." Hiro asked softly. Mercury turned his head and looked at Hiro in the eye confused. Hiro took this chance to walk over and show his notebook "I'm having trouble figuring out the problem on this helmet of mine." he explained not giving away too much information.

Mercury glanced at the page for a split second before glaring at Hiro again "You're using the Heimer Equation when you should be using the Dopper Equation you idiot!" he said before opening his notebook. Hiro was stunned, he had barely looked at the page and he figured out the problem immediately. Hiro had been struggling with the problem for over a week and Mercury figured it out in less then a second, he gave a smile and Mercury glanced back at him "What?" he asked softly.

Hiro noticed that there was no anger in his question, only curiosity. Hiro leaned over "What are you working on?" he asked, Mercury glared but Hiro gave his classic innocent smile and he rolled his eyes.

"Trying to figure out an equation that can keep electricity stable enough to be permanently harnessed as an energy source." he muttered before standing up. Hiro followed him and continued to ask questions about his work. Mercury walked out of the lab holding the notebook "Look can you leave me the hell alone?! I can't think when the most annoying person on the planet is hovering over me asking questions!" he growled and Hiro nodded.

Mercury had taken five steps when Hiro blurted out "Why don't you like me?!" he practically shouted, it echoed through the empty building. The taller teenager turned around and looked at Hiro with a bored expression, then he left without another word.

Hiro groaned in frustration before he walked back in the lab and took out his helmet. He quickly encoded the correct equation and put the helmet on "Hey guys? Can you hear me clearly?" he asked into the microphone.

"Loud and clear from the Fredman!"

"Yep reading you!"

"Why are you talking?"

"Oh you got it working again! Yay!"

Hiro smiled, he loved his friends so much, they were all so different but still so amazing! The door opened and he quickly turned around and took off his helmet. Mercury rounded the corner and Hiro gave a smile and wave as the teenager stared at him strangely.

"You're a weird dude. I forgot my coffee." he said and walked over and grabbed his mug. As he was walking Hiro continued staring at him, he probably should not have been having the thoughts he was having but he couldn't help it. Tadashi was the only person that ever knew about...his feelings. Ever since he was a kid he always looked at guys, he never looked at girls and he always thought that he was a freak because of it. Tadashi said that it was totally normal and that he should never be ashamed of who he is...and then he died.

He continued staring at Mercury as he started for the door and he stopped and started to turn around. Hiro freaked and quickly looked back at his notes but he was sure that Mercury saw him staring. He waited for him to insult Hiro and call him a weirdo but he was met with the sound of the door closing.

He turned around and Mercury was gone, probably went to work in his personal lab that everyone was issued. Hiro sighed and decided to do the same, he walked into it and realized that maybe he should clean up all the trash and broken gadgets. Wasabi had refused to even set foot in his lab because it was so filthy and disorganized.

Hiro sat down at his desk and put his face against his hands, this was going to be so much tougher than he thought. He couldn't even figure out why Mercury hated him because he would just not respond! He threw his helmet at the wall and it bounced back and hit his nose.

"OW!" he shouted as he grabbed his throbbing nose.

Suddenly he heard a beep and his best friend/personal healthcare robot activated "Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. Hello Hiro, I am detecting a small injury in the nasal cavity, would you like a tissue?" Baymax asked walking over to the table and picking up a tissue for him.

Hiro took it and pressed it against his nose, he was just so glad that Mercury wasn't there to see him hurt himself. Baymax walked over and displayed a heart monitor "I am detecting elevated heart rate. Are you feeling alright Hiro?" he asked.

Hiro nodded as he threw the tissue away and picked up his helmet and looked at the small crack in the visor. He put it down on the desk and pulled out his tools, he took out the visor and worked on the visor to fix the crack. He heard a small knock but barely registered it "I will get it." Baymax said and walked to the door. He heard the door opened "Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion." Baymax said.

"Holy crap...Never thought Tad would actually get you working." a bored voice said. Hiro shot his head up to see Mercury standing there with his coin in his mouth like usual staring at Baymax. He cocked his head and Baymax followed his movement.

"My scanners detect severe burns on your left hip. Might I suggest..." Baymax started but Mercury cut him off.

"You can take your suggestion and shove it Baymax. Granville is looking for you kid." Mercury said and Hiro nodded before he walked out the door and said goodbye to Baymax.

They left the larger lab and started down the hall "Why does Granville want to see me?" he asked curiously.

Mercury sighed heavily "Don't know or care all I know is she wanted both of us to see her right now." he said as they walked into her room. She was sitting at her desk filling out papers and when she saw them her eyes seemed to brighten.

"I see you two have become friends." she said and Mercury scoffed which hurt Hiro but he said nothing. Granville heard the scoff "Maybe not, I have called you both because I have been asked to task two students with coming up with a new source of viable energy that could sustain the city. Since you Hiro, have been one of my top students and you Mercury, are not only my top student but have been working on new energy sources already I can think of no one better to work on this assignment." she explained.

Mercury looked like he wanted to vomit "You can't be serious?!" he blurted out and Hiro looked down at the teens harsh words. Mercury looked like he was about to complain some more but Granville slammed her hands onto her desk scaring both of them.

"Enough of the complaints Mr. Tetch! You two will just have to get along! That's the end of it! A lab has been cleared so you two can work in peace! You have three months to come up with a new source and I hope to see results!" she shouted and both boys nodded in fear.

They left the room and Mercury walked down the hall holding a piece of paper that had the information they needed on the new energy source and their lab number. Hiro followed close behind and Mercury opened the door and gave a deep sigh at the lab, Hiro walked next to him and looked around.

It was fairly large with a work space, a testing room with a glass divider so they could watch and not get hurt, and two desks right next to each other. Mercury looked annoyed beyond belief as he walked over and sat down. Hiro sat at the other desk and gave a shy smile "So I guess we're partners now huh?" he said sheepishly.

Mercury looked at him and glared.

"I hate you."

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	3. Chapter 3

"Your pen is one my desk!" Mercury said annoyed and threw the small object on Hiros desk. Hiro sighed as he welded the pieces of the generator together, it had been a week and Mercury still had not opened up. He just grunted and shouted random things that annoyed him.

Mercury ran a hand through his hair before he stood up and twisted his coin violently in his hand "I'm going to go take a shower!" he muttered before walking out. As soon as the door was closed Hiro ran over to Mercurys desk and rummaged through the drawers, he hoped that maybe he could find something that he and Mercury had in common so they could bond more.

He opened the desk and just found a bunch of notebooks, he threw his hands up in frustration. As he was closing the drawer the book on the bottom shifted and Hiro saw what the title said.

**Hiro Hamada**

He reached over and grabbed the book, his name was in the corner and it looked more like a journal than a notebook. Hiro opened the book and read the first few entries.

_Tadashi's younger brother got into the university. I don't know what's more shocking that he got in or that there's two of them! Tadashi said he's so proud of him and yeah I guess so, the kids invention was pretty cool. I doubt we'll get along, something about him just annoys me! I'm not sure exactly but I'm pretty sure what annoys me is..._

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" an angry voice shouted behind Hiro. Hiro flinched and turned to see a shirtless Mercury standing at the doorway his hair still wet from the shower. Hiro stood with his mouth agape as Mercury wore jeans but nothing else, his brain turned to mush as he stared at the shirtless boy in front of him.

"Umm...I...ummm...book." he said stupidly and Mercury marched over and ripped the book out of hands. Hiro shook his head trying to get the smell of his shampoo out of his head so he could think clearly. Now that he was closer Hiro saw that Mercury surprisingly had good muscle definition. He wasn't shredded but the outline of a four pack was clear and his arms had some nice muscles and...Hiro took a deep breathe and pushed the thoughts out of his head.

Mercury glared at him but Hiro was a little irritated "Why do you have that?! Have you been spying on me?!" he asked and Mercury glared but said nothing. Hiro had had enough "Don't think you can just shutdown like before! This is serious and I have the right to know what this is!" he shouted.

Mercury scowled and walked out of the room with the book in hand, Hiro followed him still asking questions. They came to the end of the hall and Mercury pulled the door open to show a dorm room. It was in pristine condition, hundreds of crumbled up pieces of paper were in the trash can, his mercury coin was strangely on a small pedestal.

He walked over to a bookshelf and threw him a book that was identical to the journal only this one was labeled with Tadashis name. Mercury threw another on Gogo, and Wasabi, and Honey Lemon, and even Fred.

"I take notes, I like notes, they hold facts and clear observations. I suck at making friends so I feel better writing down little facts and entries about them. Now that you have invaded my personal life and taken my property I'd like to get back to work now." he said not dropping the scowl.

Hiro stuttered profusely as Mercury threw on a shirt and put the books back on the shelf. As he started for the door he glared at Hiro again "We don't have to be friends, we are only working together. As soon as these three months is up we don't have to speak to each other!" he said as he grabbed his coin and walked out of the room.

Hiro hung his head feeling horrible, he had invaded Mercurys personal property and severely damaged his chances of ever being friends with him. They walked back into the lab and Hiro sat down at his desk "Mercury...I'm really sorry. I'm just really dumb when it comes to knowing people." he said softly.

Mercury muttered something under his breath and Hiro looked at him. He was writing down something in the journal and then snapped it shut and put it in his desk. Hiro looked at him for a few seconds "What did you just say?" he asked because he was sure that he heard the teenager wrong.

"I...you're not." he said in a whisper as he sat down and looked over the schematics they had drawn up for the generator. Hiro was trying to figure out what he mean't, he's not? What is he not? Mercury saw Hiro staring at him trying to figure out what he meant and he rolled his eyes "You're not...dumb. Stop acting like you are." he said softly.

Hiro was shocked to say the least, Mercury just complimented him? What is this world coming too?!

Mercury saw how stunned he was and glared "Get back to work Hamada! We only have a few months!" he snarled going back to his regular jerky self. He started writing down different elements that could be used as a viable energy source and Hiro started drawing up some more schematics.

And he couldn't stop smiling!

_The Next Day_

Hiro woke up to the sound of his phone alarm, he groaned and grabbed the phone to shut it off. He didn't want to work so early in the morning but Mercury was practically nocturnal with the hours he was up. He looked at his phone and saw a text from Mercury.

**Gonna be late to school, got some stuff to do. Don't blow up the lab! -M**

Hiro gave a small smile at least the text wasn't insulting...very much. He got out of bed and got dressed when his phone rang, he answered and saw Wasabi looking worried "Hiro get to the police station! Someone attacked it and we have them trapped inside! Hurry!" he said and the call was cut.

Hiro quickly got his gear and suited up Baymax before making their way in the air towards the center of the city. Police officers were surrounding the building and his friends were at the front talking, all of them in their suits.

"So what's the situation?!" Hiro asked as he ran up to them.

"Guy walked in, knocked out all of the officers in the archive section and grabbed a bunch of files. Officers were able to lock it down before he escaped, the weirdest thing is we asked for a description and all of the officers that made it out only say that the guy is...metal." Gogo explained.

Hiro didn't even have time to think, metal grates were in front of the doors and window because of the lockdown and they were shaking. Suddenly the front door exploded and the grate went through the air and crashed into a police care.

A man walked out, he was clearly human but he was solid metal, as if he was made of silver! He had on strange looking gauntlets that were glowing in the palm just like Hiros gauntlets.

"OPEN FIRE!" and officer shouted and guns roared to life as they fired at the man. He looked down as the bullets bounced harmlessly off his metal skin. When they all stopped firing he raised his right hand and his palm glowed, he fired a bolt of energy and blew up a police car.

Everyone scattered and Wasabi leaped forward ready to fight but the man sidestepped and pulled out what appeared to be a handmade taser and zapped him in the neck. Wasabi crumbled as the metal man turned to see Gogo racing towards him. She threw a disk towards him and he raised his left hand which glowed and the disk froze midair. He fired the disk back and it struck Gogo who was thrown free and slammed into Honey, who dropped her freezing bomb and they were both encased in ice. Fred blew a plume of fire and the man wasn't even fazed as he used his gauntlet to lift a car and then brought it down on Fred knocking him out cold.

Hiro jumped on Baymax and he fired towards the metal man, he fired energy blasts towards him but Baymax was able to dodge them. The metal man jumped high into the air and used his metal gauntlet to shoot forward and he stuck to Baymax's chest and then as if he knew what to do he punched the Sim Card slot and ripped out the cards.

"Oh no." Baymax said before he shut off and fell to the ground, the man leaped off and used his magnet hand to jump onto the roof of the police station. Hiro jumped off of Baymax and rolled across the ground, he ran over to the edge of the of the building and aimed his magnet hand towards the rail on the roof.

The metal man looked over the roof just as Hiro used his gauntlet to shoot up and grab the rail and deliver a kick right into the mans chest. He fell to the ground clutching his chest, now that he was close he could see that the man was young but his features were indistinct because of the metal.

He got to his feet and fired a bolt of energy at Hiro and he jumped to the side and tackled the man to the ground. They both got into a fist fight, the man punched Hiro in the face and knocked his helmet off. He stopped fighting long enough for Hiro to punch his already injured chest. He screamed, or at least would have but no sound came out of his mouth. The inside of his mouth also being solid metal, he then lifted his magnet gauntlet and Hiro was suddenly suspended in the air.

He thrust his hand forward and Hiro was thrown free, he used his gauntlets to grip the railing and lifted himself just to see the man leaping to another building then out of sight.

Hiro sighed heavily as he made his way down and helped his friends who were all trying to recuperate. They all got to their feet and the police sergeant walked over "Thank you for driving him away. We have gotten reports of robberies around the city committed by a metal man. People have taken to calling him Hydrar, no idea why though." he explained.

"Why was he attacking the station archives?" Gogo asked and the man shrugged.

"No idea we keep old cases down there some that go back twenty years. We'll try to figure out what he took maybe get some information on who he is in the process." he explained and they all nodded.

Hiro looked at the devastation that Hydrar had caused and all of his friends who were beat up and he probably looked no better. One thing was certain though...

This was no ordinary villain.

This was something new.

**REVIEW! I NEED HELP WITH IDEAS IN THIS STORY! HALP!**


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Hiro rushed through the school into his shared lab Mercury was already working on the generator. Mercury was on a ladder welding the top pieces together, he gave a shy wave before walking over to his desk and grabbing the schematics.

"What the hell happened to you?" Mercury asked when he lifted up his welding mask and faced Hiro. He frowned before looking in a mirror and saw that he had a black eye and a few bruises across his cheeks from Hydrars punches.

"Fell down the stairs, didn't see the cat and tripped." he explained quickly.

"And that gave you a black eye? Falling down steps?" he asked clearly not buying his lie. Hiro cursed to himself, he forgot that Mercury was actually smarter than even him so a simple explanation wouldn't work. He racked his brain trying to think of another lie when Mercury rolled his eyes "Whatever." he mumbled and went back to welding.

Hiro whimpered in annoyance with himself he couldn't explain why he was hurt! One thing he noticed was Mercury didn't laugh at his injury he just asked about them...maybe he was actually making progress with him albeit slowly.

Hiro walked over to help him, but he forgot to put on his goggles and the bright light of the welding torch made his black eye throb violently "Ow!" he shouted and Mercury stopped working. He lifted his mask again and stared at the younger teen confused as he clutched his injured eye in pain.

It took a few seconds but soon they heard the familiar waddle of Baymax heading towards them. He walked in and waved, luckily Hydrar had not broken the sim cards only taken them out and dropped them. He stopped in front of Hiro "Hello Hiro I see you have sustained some injuries from your fight. I suggest icing the bruises until the pain ceases." he advised and Mercury raised an eyebrow as he said this.

"Fight? Little Tadashi Junior got into a scrap? With who?" Mercury asked jumping on the generator and sitting down, his feet dangling over the sides. Hiro gulped hard and glared at Baymax who seemed to not understand the situation he put him in.

"Yeah...just some new guy in the city thinks he's all tough." he said quickly and Hiro was sure he saw the hint of a smile tug on the sides of Mercury's face.

"You know how to fight right? Or did you do what I assume you did and just curled up into a ball while he punched you?" he teased a grin starting to grow on his face. Hiro would normally not say anything but Mercury's constant put downs were really starting to get on his nerves.

Mercury kept talking "You mean to tell me that over the years all the bullies, I assume you have had many, you have never actually fought them? You just took the beatings?" he asked incredulously. After a few seconds of silence Mercury rolled his eyes and jumped down landing right in front of Hiro and scaring him a bit.

"Hit me." he said.

Hiro backed up but Mercury raised his fists "I'm not going to ask again. Hit me!" he shouted and Hiro threw a punch. Mercury sidestepped and grabbed Hiro and tripped him over his leg, knocking him to the ground. Hiro coughed a little as Mercury grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him to his feet as if he weighed nothing.

"You're too slow, punch faster." he advised and Hiro raised his fists and gave a quick punch only for Mercury to grab his wrist and throw him behind him. He rolled on the ground and Mercury looked close to laughing "Wow, maybe you should just let those bullies beat the hell out of you." he taunted.

Hiro grit his teeth and got to his feet and ran towards Mercury. He started throwing punches and Mercury blocked and sidestepped every hit but seemed almost impressed with his speed. Mercury threw a punch and Hiro blocked it and delivered a punch to Mercury's left hip.

As soon as his fist connected Mercury dropped to the ground and looked like he wanted to vomit. He was on his hands and knees clutching the punched area, his face twisted in immense pain. Hiro dropped down to check on him as Baymax walked over "You are experiencing pain, on a scale of one to ten how painful would you..."

"SHUT UP!" Mercury shouted through his teeth, he was turning pale as he took heavy uneven breaths. Hiro reached for his hip but Mercury smacked his hand away "I'm fine! Just...just leave me alone!" he snarled and slowly got to his feet and practically limped out of the room.

Hiro was shocked what was that? It was like he had hit a pain button, he had never seen someone in that much pain before. He looked at Baymax "Baymax? Do you know what that was?" he asked and the robot turned to face him.

"Yes, severe burns on left hip resulting in fragile and sensitive skin. The hit that you delivered would have resulted in internal bleeding and possibly a ruptured organ...I suggest fruit and plenty of water." he said and Hiro gasped.

He ran out of the lab and down the hall to where Mercury's room was and saw the door was slightly open. He ran into the room where he saw Mercury sitting at his desk and his shirt was off, he was resting an ice pack on his left hip and Hiro caught a glimpse of the burns.

The skin all around his left hip was dark grey and looked like it was freshly burned. He breathed heavily as he slowly placed the ice pack against the skin and then winced in pain. Hiro walked over and grabbed the ice pack making Mercury flinch as he had not seen Hiro walk in.

"Let me, I'm the reason you are in pain anyway." he said and dabbed the freezing material on his burn. He winced at every hit but soon he sighed as he rested the ice against the skin completely.

"I'm always in pain." he muttered under his breath. Hiro refilled the ice pack and placed it against his hip making Mercury sigh in relief.

After a few seconds Hiro finally asked "How did this happen?" he asked curiously he was sure that Mercury was going to shut down again but he was surprised when Mercury sighed heavily.

"It was my second day of school. Tadashi and I had been working on an element replicator, we were hoping to decrease the ozone by replicating oxygen to the point where it could combat the Suns rays. We had to test it out first...I found some mercury and was sure that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Your brother told me not to but I didn't listen and activated the machine. It replicated but at an alarming rate, the mercury duplicated so fast that it ripped the machine apart. The circuits and heat from the machine boiled the mercury and acted as a conductor so it just kept replicating. Tadashi and I ran but I tripped over some scrap from the machine. The mercury spread and landed on my hip and...Well, as you can see the mercury seared into my skin. Tadashi pulled me out of there, and saved my life. The school was flooded and everyone made it out safely, I never told anyone about these burns though...I was too ashamed." he said softly.

"So you put up with the pain of these burns as what? Penance? For something that was an accident?!" Hiro asked and Mercury remained silent.

"I shouldn't have used mercury...people got hurt, sure no one died but people got burned. It was because of me that it happened and I live with the pain so it reminds me never to make a mistake. Mistakes can get people hurt or even killed. I won't ever let that happen." he said and he blinked back tears and turned his head away.

Hiro held the ice pack and looked Mercury in the eye "You don't have to be like that. You can just be a great scientist you don't have to live in pain." he said and Mercury's bottom lip started quivering.

He pushed his head against Hiros chest and completely broke down in sobs. Hiro ran his hand through his hair as he cried "It hurts so much! I barely even sleep because of it!" he shouted and wrapped his arms around Hiro and pulled him closer.

Hiro ignored the blush spreading across his cheeks and focused on the crying boy in front of him. He hugged him back as Mercury fell to his knees and continued to sob into Hiros chest, soaking his shirt but he didn't care. He ran his hand through Mercury's hair soothingly and soon the crying turned into sniffling and Hiro slowly got to his feet "Look just...take the day off. Forget about the generator I promise you it's in good hands. Just rest okay?" Hiro asked.

Mercury nodded as he climbed into bed and laid on his back wincing over his burns. Hiro threw a blanket on him and started towards the door, only for a hand to grab his arm.

He turned back and Mercury was staring at him with watery eyes "Th-Thank you." he whispered so softly Hiro barely caught it. Hiro smiled and nodded before walking to door and shutting out the lights.

"Anytime."

Then Hiro shut the door.

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	5. Chapter 5

Hiro sat down at his desk and spun around in the chair, he had gotten used to working so early. He smiled as he took another sip of his energy drink and the door opened, Mercury walked in looking a little embarrassed. He saw Hiro and stopped walking, he looked a little pale as he rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"Hey...about yesterday..." he started but Hiro raised his hand to stop him.

"It's fine, if you want yesterday didn't even happen." he said and Mercury nodded in agreement. After a few seconds Hiro gave a small smile "Where did you learn to fight?" he asked curiously remembering Mercury's speed and strength.

Mercury took a deep breath as he sat down at his desk "I trained myself, my...parents weren't really around so I kept myself busy by training." he explained and Hiro nodded. He knew better than anyone not having parents, sure he loved Aunt Cass with everything he had but he always wondered what life would have been like if his parents were still in the picture.

Mercury started writing down in his notebook but after a few minutes he grabbed his burned side and looked at Hiro. He gulped "You know...if you ever want lessons...I mean I'm never really doing anything outside of school." he said slowly.

Hiro looked at Mercury and saw he was trying his best to say the right words so he didn't come off as a jerk. Hiro smiled "I'd think I would really like that! Think you could show me some moves right now?" he asked curiously.

"I mean don't you think we should be working...I guess yeah come over here." he said a little nervously and Hiro stood in front of him. Mercury still looked a little pale but he raised his fist and Hiro did the same "Punch." he said and Hiro threw one and Mercury dodged. He raised his palm up "Hit it." he said and Hiro tried to punch his palm only for the taller teen to grab his wrist and pull back and push it between his shoulder blades. Hiro winced "With this move I have full control over your side because more pressure means more pain. Got it?" he said and Hiro nodded and Mercury released him.

"Want to try something more advanced?" he asked and Hiro nodded. Hiro threw another punch and Mercury grabbed him and practically threw him to the ground and he found Mercurys legs over his head and in between them was Hiros arm being pulled.

"This is an Armbar. Very effective when you want someone to give up, the reason it's so effective is because it's very hard to break out of and it hyper extends the elbow joint. All I have to do is pull and I could break your arm, understand?" he said and Hiro nodded and Mercury released him.

Hiro sighed in relief as he rubbed his arm, he had to remember that one because that could come in handy. They got to their feet and looked at each other, Hiro couldn't resist noticing that Mercury looked very cute when his hair was a mess and he was sweating from the moves.

"So back to work? I think I may have figured out how to create the sustainable energy." Hiro said and Mercury raised an eyebrow in curiosity. He walked over with Hiro and he pulled out the schematic for his old project, the Energy Amplifier.

"No way Hiro, this thing is way too unpredictable and could totally destroy the machine." he said wiping some sweat off his forehead.

Hiro stared at him, okay he was one for taking insults but he was sure that this was the answer "Mercury we have a deadline and this is the best thing that could..."

"No! Hiro no! I'm serious!" he said with a small glare and Hiro actually returned it. He was sure that the Energy Amplifier could power the machine if it was tied to the schools mainframe, it was large enough to sustain the Amplifiers massive energy output.

"Then what should we do? We have only three months!" he said angrily and Mercury's glare deepened at his words.

"Hiro...this would kill us! Like you said we have three months! We can think of an alternative!" Mercury practically shouted. Pretty soon they actually were shouting at each other, Hiro was done being nice at this point. Mercury can't just unilaterally decide what to use! They were partners!

Suddenly Mercury's watch beeped and he looked at it and sighed heavily "We are not doing it and that's final Hiro! I gotta go!" he said and stormed out of the room. Hiro threw his notebook against the wall and groaned in frustration. He was so tired of Mercury just making decisions like that and leaving Hiro to play catch up! He had made the design for the generator without Hiro, he had chosen which metal alloy the generator would be made of without Hiro, now he was shooting down Hiro's ideas?!

He wasn't sure how long he was sitting there glaring at the wall but he heard the buzzing noise coming from his desk. He opened his drawer and saw that Gogo was calling him for a video chat, he clicked the button and Gogo appeared looking worried.

"Finally! Hiro you have to get downtown right now! Hydrar is here and it looks like he has friends!" she shouted and Hiro nodded before running out of the room. He reached his dorm and got his suit ready and then prepped Baymax and then he opened the window and they flew out of the room.

It only took a few minutes but when they reached the street it looked like a full blown war zone! Guns were blazing and cars were flipped over, police officers were firing at a small militia of armored men who were firing back. The men looked like a SWAT team except that their armor was blood red and their guns were way too advanced to be regular attackers.

He flew behind the police blockade and found his friends "What's going on?!" he shouted over the roar of gunfire. Wasabi started to speak but an explosion caused him to scram like a girl and Gogo rolled her eyes.

"See that building there?" she asked pointing to a small apartment complex in between the No Mans Land of the street. Hiro nodded "Hydrar is in there, these guys arrived with him so my guess is they are working with Hydrar." she said and Hiro nodded. He looked at the apartment and grit his teeth, Hydrar got away last time but he wouldn't this time.

He raised his gauntlets and everyone protested but he activated the magnet and shot towards the door of the apartment. He shot through the police officers and then deactivated the gauntlet and got his feet into a kick position and then slammed into the door knocking it off its hinges.

He made his way up the steps trying to find a clue as to where Hydrar could be. He figured it was the room that had its front door ripped open, he ran in ready to fight but was not expecting what he found.

Hydrar standing at the window holding one of the enemy SWAT guys, he looked to be unconscious. A man, the tenant most likely, laid on the ground in a puddle of blood. Hiro felt anger rise in him as he saw Hydrar lift his hand and blast the wall open revealing the war going on in the street below.

He had failed to save that man! He was innocent and Hydrar killed him! Hydrar used his polarity gauntlet to shoot out and Hiro activated his hand too and fired forward, his hand wrapping around Hydrars leg. The added and unsuspecting weight made Hydrar lose concentration and they fell into a free fall and crashed into the street.

Hiro tried to stay low because of the gunfire but Hydrar rose, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off his metal skin. He used his polarity gauntlet to lift Hiro into the air, he whimpered at how much in the line of fire he was but then Hydrar blasted him and he flew back into the police side. He was caught midair by Fred and then brought safely to the ambulance, Hiro looked back and saw Hydrar jumping to the next building and Hiro caught a glimpse of some sort of rocket mechanism in his feet, probably so he could jump higher and balance himself in the air.

The SWAT team pulled away and ran in different directions as soon as Hydrar was gone, they _were_ working together! The police sergeant ran over to them "You guys okay?" he asked and they all nodded but Hiro didn't respond, a man was dead, and the one responsible had once again slipped through his fingers!

"Who on earth were those guys?! They looked like a private army!" Wasabi asked looking shocked.

"One of them had this patch." the sergeant said handing them a small patch that was blood red, it showed a black triangle and a sword splitting it in half. The officer looked worried "It's the mark of the Syndicate." he said fearfully.

Hiro had heard of the Syndicate but it was just a story. His brother had once told him about it, how it was evil but fell years ago due to it's instability to have a single leader.

The Syndicate...

The largest criminal organization in the world.

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	6. Chapter 6

**Just wanted to thank all the people that have reviewed! I love reviews so much! Please enjoy this chapter!**

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"How did he make a polarity gauntlet?! He would need an incredibly sophisticated lab to craft one." Hiro said as he sat down with his friends. They were all going over what had happened at the Syndicate attack while they ate lunch.

"My guess is this Syndicate has funding, they have enough money that they have remained hidden for years. No doubt that given those guns they had they have a lab. That must be where Hydrar built the gauntlets." Honey said and everyone nodded in agreement.

Just then Hiro saw Mercury walk in, he walked over to the buffet and grabbed an apple. He examined it and then took a bite "Hey guys? I'll be right back." Hiro said and made his way over to Mercury. He was talking to a few other students about certain inventions they were working on. Mercury chuckled a little at what they were saying until he saw Hiro making his way toward him, he looked around and then started for the door.

Hiro was able to cut him off "Can we talk?" he asked, Mercury shook his head and tried for the door again but Hiro stopped him again.

"Look what do you want kid?!" he growled but Hiro knew what he was really like, he didn't scare Hiro very much anymore ever since he saw those burns.

"You were right." he said softly, Mercury frowned in confusion. After a few seconds Hiro spoke up "We shouldn't use the Amplifier, I was just thinking of a shortcut when I should be thinking of something that will actually work. You were right." he explained and Mercury looked a little stunned.

After a minute or two Mercury finally spoke "I mean...I kind of overreacted. It's not all on you, don't beat yourself up." he said quietly like he didn't want people to hear him say nice things.

"So...see you later?" Hiro asked, Mercury gave a small grin and nodded before walking out the door.

Hiro made his way back to his friends who all looked shocked "Why were you talking to him?! He's a jerk!" Fred said glaring at Mercury as he walked out of the cafeteria.

"He's not like that guys! He's actually a pretty good guy." Hiro defended and everyone looked at him. He didn't know why but he just felt so compelled to defend Mercury, he wasn't really a jerk he was just damaged. Hiro was a scientist, he was going to fix him any way he could even if that meant just being a good friend.

"Literally a like two weeks ago he was trying to get you expelled!" Gogo reminded and Hiro nodded. That was two weeks ago and a lot had happened since then, Hiro relayed that to them and they all rolled their eyes. Gogo chewed her gum and blew a bubble "Fine! Just remember that some people aren't who they say they are. Mercury might just be buttering you up so you let your guard down and he tries to get you kicked off the project and he takes all the credit." she advised.

Hiro pondered this, he hadn't thought of that at all. Could Mercury be manipulating him? No! He had seen the burns, he had seen him break down! Mercury was just an angry person, he meant no harm to Hiro. He had to believe that.

Once he was done with his lunch he made his way back to his room where Baymax was standing in the center...with Mercury standing in front of him.

"Mercury? What are you doing here?" he asked curiously, the older teen turned around looking like a deer in headlights. They stared at each other for a few seconds "Everything okay? Are your burns acting up again or something?" Hiro asked cautiously shutting the door so no one heard.

"Uh yeah, I was a little embarrassed so I was asking Baymax for some advice on how to treat them. After nearly two years of going untreated they have seared into the bone...I need to try and repair both my bones and muscles from the mercury." Mercury explained a little too quick as if he had rehearsed it.

Hiro nodded "Okay...anything I can help you with?" he asked and Mercury nodded before saying goodbye and walking out of the room. Hiro was a little suspicious as he walked up to Baymax "What did he ask you Baymax?" he asked his robot.

Baymax lifted his hand up as if to answer "Unknown." he responded. Hiro frowned and repeated the question "My data files cannot find what he asked, they do not exist." he explained and Hiro looked back at the door.

Why couldn't Baymax remember? Mercury said it was about his burns but if they were acting up then Mercury would have been limping or shown pain when they were talking. His voice would have been strained too, and he would have been grabbing his side.

Mercury lied!

Hiro didn't have time to figure that out because Baymax had received the files that were missing from the police station. Baymax had been printing them out while he was out lunch "Baymax? Where are the papers from the station?" he asked looking around.

"The papers are on your desk Hiro." Baymax responded and Hiro did all but turn the desk upside down looking for the papers. He couldn't find them, they just weren't there, Hiro frowned but in the end shrugged it off.

"Baymax can you print them out again?" he asked.

"I will print them out again." Baymax said and the printer started up, the paper was about halfway through the machine when suddenly they heard a spark. Hiro looked over at Baymax and he looked like he was short circuiting, then the printer caught on fire.

Hiro grabbed the extinguisher and put out the fire and then sighed. What had happened?! He looked at Baymax and he seemed to be functioning normally, but he couldn't print the papers now. It all made no sense he was working perfectly fine when he left for lunch.

Hiro gasped, there was only one thing that had happened in between that time and now.

Mercury!

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	7. Chapter 7

**Love the reviews people! Love them all so much!**

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Hiro marched into the shared lab with Baymax right behind him "Hiro? Your heart rate is increasing might I suggest a massage or relaxation therapy." Baymax said but Hiro was barely listening he was so angry.

He saw Mercury working on the large generator, when he saw Hiro he gave a small grin. He lowered his welding torch and screwdriver "Hey Hiro! So listen I think I found an element that we can..." he started but Hiro refused to listen.

"What did you do?!" Hiro demanded and Mercury frowned before he climbed down the ladder and set his tools down. He wiped some sweat from his forehead and smeared oil across his face in the process, on any other occasion Hiro might have felt nervous about how cute he looked but not now!

"What are you talking about?" Mercury asked but Hiro saw how he was darting his eyes. Mercury knew exactly what he was talking about but didn't want to say it.

"I wanted to help with your burns but Baymax has no record of you asking about them! Also I had some papers printed out and they were missing, then when I tried to print them out again Baymax short circuited! Care to explain?!" Hiro growled.

Mercury lifted an eyebrow "Listen Hiro I don't know what you think you know but it's wrong. You should be smart enough to know that." he said rolling his eyes and turning around.

He started for his tools again but Hiro ran in front of him and cut him off "No! You don't get to avoid this! I'm a caring and forgiving guy but tampering with Baymax?! That crosses a line Tetch! Where are the papers and what did you do to Baymax?!" Hiro shouted.

Mercury glared at him "I didn't take any papers and I didn't do anything to Baymax! You're just being a bratty little kid! Odds are you misplaced them and don't want to admit it!" he shouted back.

Hiros glare deepened and so did Mercurys, they stared at each other in silence for a few minutes and the only sound was Baymax looking between them. Finally Mercury looked away "Look Hiro you need to just let it go. I didn't do anything and I think you know it!" he said.

"No! No I don't know that! I hardly know anything about you! The only thing I know about you is your _disgusting_ burns and pathetic self esteem!" he shouted and then threw his hand over his mouth at his words. He hadn't meant to say that, it had just slipped out. Mercury looked stunned, his mouth opened and closed but no words came out, "Mercury...that was just...I didn't..."

"You know what? Finish this thing yourself." he said quietly and walked out without another word. Hiro groaned in annoyance, he never meant to say that he was just so mad. It was a heat of the moment thing, just some ammo he had but he didn't know how devastating the results would be.

"Hiro, my files have been restored...I apologize for the inconvenience. I had contracted a small virus when uploading the files from the police station. It corrupted my memory, your papers were on your desk but I was deactivated until Mr. Tetch arrived asking about his burns." Baymax stated.

"Wait...Mercury was actually asking about his burns?" Hiro asked feeling worse and worse by the second about what he had said.

"Correct, his exact words were 'I want to be a better friend to Hiro, how can I fix my burns so we can do stuff together?' I then advised him that icing the burns and seeking immediate medical attention was the best course of action for him." Baymax said.

Hiro had never felt worse! That's why Mercury had lied! He was embarrassed because he was terrible at making friends and he wanted to be closer to Hiro...and now he had ruined it!

Baymax cocked his head "Your heart rate has elevated drastically Hiro. Are you stressed?" he asked.

"Yes I'm stressed! I just ruined a friendship because I accused Mercury of something he didn't do!" Hiro said before running out of the lab and down the hall. He saw Mercurys room and the door was open a bit, He slowed down and peered into the room.

Mercury was at his desk writing something down, he was hunched over and Hiro swore he could hear sniffling. He knocked lightly "Mercury? Hey can we talk for a second?" he asked. Mercury turned and he had tears in his eyes, they looked ready to break. Hiro gave a small smile and wave and Mercury got up and walked over to him.

Then Mercury slammed the door in Hiros face.

Hiro sighed heavily and hung his head, he walked back to the lab and Baymax was still there examining all of the tools. Hiro felt like he wanted to cry as he sat down at his desk and looked at Mercurys desk. Stacks and stacks of ideas and schematics littered it, they had been working hard together and in less than five minutes Hiro had destroyed all he had worked for.

He heard the door open and he figured it was Mercury probably coming to get he notebooks. Hiro didn't blame him, it was such a low blow and cruel thing he said to him. He wouldn't be surprised if Mercury never spoke to him again.

"Hello, I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion." Baymax said waving his hand, Hiro frowned why did Baymax say that he only says that to...new people.

Hiro turned around to find a woman standing there, she had long black hair and dark brown eyes. She gave a small but sinister smile "Hello Hiro Hamada." she said coldly. Hiro noticed something on her shoulder, it was a small patch. A triangle with a sword through it! This woman was part of the Syndicate!

"I'd like to talk to you about Big Hero Six."

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